russian invaders Are Getting Rid of Agricultural Assets in the Temporarily Occupied Territories (TOT) of Ukraine

russian invaders have begun to get rid of agricultural assets in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, reducing or completely stopping production activities and subletting their land.

In particular, the Donetsk Agricultural Company, associated with former governor of the krasnodar krai a. tkachev, has ceased operations in the TOT. The company’s revenues decreased from USD 15.12 million in 2013 to USD 2.2 million in 2014.

The main reasons for the departure of “agricultural businessmen” from the TOT of Ukraine include legal uncertainty of ownership rights and the right to use the land owned by individuals and legal entities of Ukraine, as well as active hostilities in the region. These difficulties cannot be compensated for even by the provided by russian authorities benefits and duty-free quotas for the export of actually stolen agricultural products to russia or other countries.

According to the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, the process of transferring control over Ukrainian lands by russian owners will be carried out using non-transparent asset transfer schemes, corruption mechanisms and “manual control” of the industry by the occupation administration.

This will further decrease the efficiency of the aggressor’s “management” and lead to the degradation of the agricultural sector in those territories.